Severe thunderstorm warning issued with large hail and destructive winds forecast

Southeast Queenslanders have been warned of possible hail on Saturday afternoon following storms in the region on Friday night.

The storms that ripped through Brisbane at around 6pm on Friday dumped almost 22 millimeters of rain on the city between 5pm and 7pm, leaving more than 3200 properties without power at their peak.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that severe storms were forming west of Brisbane from 1.20pm on Saturday.

BOM said: “These storms are moving eastwards. They are expected to affect Esk, the area south of Lake Wivenhoe and the area west of Warwick by 1.50pm, Allora, the area north-west of Warwick and the area north of Warwick by 14.20.”

BOM senior meteorologist Angus Hines said the area between the Sunshine Coast and Moree in NSW was particularly volatile.

“This is not only where severe storms are most likely to occur today, but also where we could see even more significant weather impacts in the form of giant hailstones (potentially five centimeters or larger) and destructive winds of 120 kilometers per hour or stronger,” he said.

“The area where we can see these really high-end impacts goes inland from the western parts of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, from Toowoomba to the Darling Downs, then across the southern border ranges and into the northwestern slopes of New South Wales.”

Another BOM senior meteorologist, Miriam Bradbury, said the storms were expected to ease after the weekend.

“We’ll start to see storms clear the east pretty quickly,” he said.

“Showers and storms remain possible along the southern Queensland and New South Wales coastlines on Monday, but these will tend to taper off and by Tuesday clear and dry conditions are expected to continue across much of the east coast over the next week.”